sweet, sweet D

These were taken at one of Mr. D's recent banquet dinner for work. It is more like an awards ceremony but there is a different theme each time. This particular one had to do with trains and solving a mystery aboard the train. Interesting, yes, but just fun to be there with my sweet Mr. D. He's awesome. And looks very dapper in his suit. And sexy. And smokin' hot. And extra sweet.

Christian Bale, eat your heart out. :)

halloween countdown

Since I didn't get a chance to post anything yesterday, I will have to include two in this Halloween countdown.

Donald Duck's Trick-or-Treat and also Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown is my #3 and 2 on this countdown. Love these shows! Here they are, in case you have been living in a cardboard box and don't actually know what I'm talking about. Enjoy.

i'm still here

So the big, anticipated day has come and gone. And guess what...I'm still here. I look the same. I feel the same. Really, not much has changed. Well, actually, I'm a bit pudgier in the mid-section. I'm sure I gained a pound or two from all the treats and cake and ice cream and Texas Roadhouse rolls. *mmmmmm*I promised myself I would enjoy the day to the fullest and that included food. Lots of it too. :)

I guess what I'm saying is I have realized that though I'm no longer in my twenties, the world has not come to an end. No explosions. No giant black hole sucking me in. No nothing. Nada. All the dread and worry and nothing to show for it really. D took the day off and we enjoyed eating breakfast all together, carving pumpkins together...just being together. D even did the dishes for me, prepared meals for the kids, got them down for their naps, etc. So I really was able to enjoy the day and relax. I woke up happy and ended the day with a smile.

M told me that I am the best pumpkin carver ever. When he said that, it hit me: to my kids, I'm amazing, no matter what age I am. Or how skinny or fat I am. Or how many wrinkles and grey hairs I have. They don't care if I have ran a marathon or not. They could care less that I met Macho Man Randy Savage (oh, yeah!!) or got Beatles Rockband for my birthday (holla back, y'all). All they know is that I am their mom and that I love them. I love reading books with them and spending time with them. I love kissing their cute little cheeks and hearing them laugh. I love just being with them and to them, that is enough.

So for me, it should be enough too. And now, I can honestly say it is.
Loud and proud: I'M 30.

halloween countdown

To continue our countdown, Garfield Halloween Special was one I looked forward to watching on Halloween night. Not sure why I liked Garfield so much...maybe it was because I too am a lover of lasagna. But I love how he wakes up and is already thinking of all the Halloween candy he is going to get. I remember waking up and being so anxious about trick-or-treating that my stomach would start to churn and I would make myself sick just thinking about it. We always would compare our pillow cases of candy too...to see who got the most. Good times.

Enjoy.

closer

I have been doing things a bit differently this morning. I took a shower first thing instead of being a laze and staying in my jammies. I put perfume on...just because. I was sure to find D's toes under the covers before he hopped out of bed...just to get a little more footsie time in. I even gave myself ten minutes to sit down, eat breakfast and read the paper.

Why the change?? Well, I'm sure I'm beating a dead horse with this but tomorrow I ring in a new chapter of my life. I want to make sure I end this one on a positive note. I mean, I don't want to sound like Obama or anything but change. will. happen.

No more burping like a frog. No more talking out of turn. No more staying up until midnight. No more selfish acts that make people look at me, shake their heads and say, "Oh...poor girl. She must still be in her twenties." Nope. Not happening anymore. I need to start acting like I'm 30. With being 30 I will need to start skiing on the weekends and I mean every weekend. Bedtime will be promptly at 11pm. I will need to start running marathons because that is what 30-year-old people do. I will need to read more serious literature and start quoting David McCullough instead of Andy Samberg. Political science will be my new endeavor and I will also need to be more opinionated. I may even get more serious about sewing and quilting....maybe....okay, no. But I'm sure I can find some other hobby to become serious about.
I know I will need to go to more concerts in my thirtieth year...starting tonight. :) For my birthday, my older brother bought me a ticket to see Mat Kearney with him. Should be fun. I have been to plenty of concerts in my day...but now begins a new decade of concerts. How about 30 concerts before I turn 31? I've heard of people wanting to run a marathon in their 30th year or become a master at photography. This is a lofty goal but lets make it happen!!

Now, if I can just get my hands on some U2 tickets...

halloween countdown

Being that it is almost Halloween and Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year...I have decided to countdown some of my favorite Halloween cartoons/shows/movies. Didn't you just love coming home from a chilly run through the neighborhoods, trick-or-treating at as many houses you could find, plopping in front of the TV with your loot and watching the Halloween shows on?? And have you noticed they don't do this much anymore?? They show The Great Pumpkin the Tuesday before Halloween. Or this year they are doing a Monsters vs. Aliens Halloween special the Wednesday before Halloween. It just baffles my mind. Why not on Halloween night?? Anywho. Lets get this countdown started.

I didn't realize that my choice for tonight is from 1929. Who would have thought? It still is a hit, in my mind at least, and brings back lots of memories of Halloweens past. This one is titled Skeleton Dance. I just loved their dancing and using each other's bones, like a xylophone, to make music. Enjoy!

survival guide

I opened my inbox this morning to find an email with the subject line, "Your Halloween Surivival Guide". This was of course from Weight Watchers, reminding me that stuffing my face with candy this week will not only add pounds to my body, but also make me feel horribly guilty and want to start training for a marathon at 11:39 at night. I mean, you have to burn off all that sugar somehow and what better way than to run all night long! I really have felt like doing that a couple of times. But only a couple.

I almost expected the email to read, "Your Turning 30 Survival Guide" or "How to Accept You are Turning 30 Even Though Your Diary Resembles Bridget Jones" (minus the cigarettes and swearing and singlehood). I'm sure there is a self-help book out there, full of wisdom and knowledge on how to turn 30 and love it. But really, I'm not loving it. I, like my amazing and wonderful grandma, want to stay 29 forever. Who wants to get older and have body aches where you have never ached before? Who wants to deteriorate to practically a bowl of mush and sit around drooling all day? I say this only because I have a feeling this will be me: stuck in a wheelchair, watching re-runs of General Hospital (which I would absolutely hate but since I'm stuck in a wheelchair and drooling, I won't be able to turn the channel let alone tell anyone to help me out). Note to self: learn and become an expert at sign-language

Then again, I should stop focusing on all the negative. I should stop focusing on me. I should think of others who have already crossed this dreaded threshold and have come across with flying colors. People who are still living their dreams, way beyond their thirties, forties and fifties. I know it doesn't stop here. But for some reason it scares me.

People magazine likes to show us how good 30 looks and even 40. It is a bit of a killjoy really. I'm sure I would have a killer bod, a glowing face and long beauitful locks if I had zillions of dollars like they do.

In the meantime, I am trying to enjoy my last days of being in my twenties. So much has happened over the last decade. My twenties really signified a lot in my life: dating, university, marriage, kids, becoming homeowners. So many milestones and all in just the last ten years. I guess what I'm trying to say is here is to another ten! Here is to setting more goals and looking forward to more milestones in my life. :)

snl weekly

Gerard Butler hosted SNL last weekend. Kristen Wiig stepped it up and had the funniest skits of the night. Her "New Secretary" skit was super funny and quirky but this bit from Weekend Update with Seth Meyers was my fave. Gerard's Scottish accent is pretty sexy. Not as sexy as Christian's Welch accent. Why don't Canadians have a cool accent? I mean "eh" is not really sexy.
Enjoy the skit:

awkward family photos

Have you seen this website?? The photos on here are hilarious and this is one of our favorites:
The caption on the photo reads: "Seems like these two siblings could both teach each other a valuable lesson."

fanatical friday

Have you seen these new NBA commercials with Rainn Wilson? I have to give props to Utah and share with you this one featuring Deron Williams. It's pretty darn funny. Enjoy.

fall weekend

It has been one of those perfect fall weekends. You know...the ones where the temperature is perfect, the leaves on the trees have all changed colors, the sky is perfectly blue. It almost seems like nothing could go wrong.

The kids and I took a walk late Friday afternoon. We strode down foothill and then turned north and along the way, three horses in a pasture found us interesting. We stopped to say hello and found some apples in the grass that were in good shape. We fed them the apples and could tell they were very happy we stopped. Fall is just such a perfect time of year.

This morning it rained but it is still fairly warm. It doesn't seem like it will disturb my attitude much today. Starting a new week is sometimes riddled with anxiety. But I'm trying to keep my to-do list today simple:

• exercise (really, who am i kidding? but i still put it on my list...)
• laundry and folding (maybe i can somehow run out of detergent and use that as an excuse)
• clean the kitchen floor
• new sheets on the beds
• make sugar cookie dough so it can sit in fridge overnight
• eat, sleep, read
• enjoy my time with the kiddles

Adding the kids to the bottom of the list really doesn't seem fair. It wasn't a totally conscious decision to do that...I guess, in life, that is sometimes how it goes: feeling a stronger need to attack the daily demands rather than spend time with the kids and have fun. But I definitely do make it a point to totally enjoy my time with them and be in the moment.

Speaking of which, did you see Stephanie Nielson on Oprah?? Pictures of her right after the accident were shown and I had never seen those before. Her strength and courage was just overwhelming. I found myself very emotional during the whole interview. How great to have this giant vehicle we call the internet that can connect us with others we wouldn't have met...either because of distance or because we are so comfortable in our already crowded social circles. If you didn't catch the interview, here it is:

NOTE: the video has been removed from YouTube. Hopefully you can find it elsewhere because it really was great.

favorite children's books

Book orders came and we have been enjoying our days scouring the new books, reading and reading and reading. I have said this before, and I will say it again, fall is one of my most favorite times of the year. SO we are especially loving our Halloween/fall time books. Jerry Smath is one of our favorite authors. You can imagine how excited I was to see this included in the book order clubs this year: Wee Witches' Halloween is such a cute, rhyming story about witches who hatch from pumpkins and attend witch school. Then they set out to put their new skills to the test. Jerry's illustrations

are colorful and cartoony. Another book of his that we love is But No Elephants . I actually had this book when I was a kid and it was one of my favorites then. Plus, I love elephants. Anyone who knows me knows that elephants are my favorite animal (more on that later). So I especially enjoy reading this to the kids. But now I have found another Jerry Smath book that I'm thinking I need to get my hands on. It is called I Like Pumpkins:

I haven't read it though so unfortunately I cannot give a review...hopefully soon.

Happy reading!!

snl weekly

The new season of SNL has been pretty good. There have been a few funny skits but nothing yet that absolutely knocks my socks off. I'm sure it will come. Gerard Butler will be hosting this weekend. I'm anxious to see how he will do since he is definitely very dreamy.

Here is a skit from last week that we enjoyed. You need to listen carefully to the Tampax advertisements given by one of the commentators. It is probably the funniest thing about the skit. Enjoy.




Have you had a favorite skit yet from this season??

AWHC

Living in this valley is such a blessing. There is lots at our fingertips and it is rich with history. So much so, there is even a living history type center here called the American West Heritage Center . We love going to all the fun activities they offer. This year they have even added a train. Right now the fall festivities are going on. We have been out there a couple of times already. All the activities are centered around families and focus on showing kids what great time can be had in the great outdoors. Usually grandpa G goes with us and I think that is the kids favorite part.

Here is Cowboy M showing us how to rope a stationary steer: You twirl it, release and...uuurrgggh...Okay...twirl, aim, release and... ...success! Third time's a charm.

birthday hopes and caviar dreams

With my birthday in exactly twenty some-odd days (I'm trying to hang on to my twenties for as long as I can??), there are many things popping up on my wish list. Hopefully D will pick up on these demands...er, I mean wishes and whip up a great way for me to ring in my thirties (no pressure...sob, sob). There are a couple of things I know won't be possible right now (a ticket to London, U2 concert tickets) or totally impossible, but definitely two things I will keep wishing for.

SO you all were clued in previously about a couple things I'm already excited about. First one being the Beatles Rockband. We will see if it ends up under my pillow pretty soon. But I'm also so excited about Pioneer Woman's new cookbook, which happens to be released on Julia Robert's birthday. The only reason for me knowing this is because it is right before mine. I take note of other cool people whose birthdays are celebrated in October. :)

I have added a few more things to my list:

1. Rocketdog shoes are a favorite brand of mine. They are super comfy and cute. They are good "mom" shoes. I have a pair of boots that I've had for three years. They are pretty abused. SO I'm thinking it is a good time of year to invest in a new pair of Rocketdogs.

2. Paramore is one of my top 5 bands. They just released a new album and I would love to get my hands on that.

3. It's no secret that U2 is my top all-time favorite band. I'm still trying to convince the hubby that we need our next boy child to be named after Bono. I will need to work on my argument because he is still not very convinced. Anywho. My favorite U2 album has to be The Unforgettable Fire, which has recently been remastered and will be released October 27...just in time for my berfday. ;)
So here's to turning 30 and taking on a new chapter of life...but I wish it wasn't so soon.